This Tuesday, June 12, 2012, photo shows a Kroger store in Indianapolis, Tuesday, June 12, 2012. The Kroger Co. said Thursday, June 14, 2012, its net income edged up slightly in the first quarter as its customer loyalty programs helped drive up revenue. The company also raised its full-year earnings outlook. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Photo: Michael Conroy) / Associated Press

This Tuesday, June 12, 2012, photo shows a Kroger store in...

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A conceptual exterior rending of FoodCo. planned in East Oakland's Foothill Square.

Photo: Jay-Phares Corp.

A conceptual exterior rending of FoodCo. planned in East Oakland's...

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A conceptual exterior rending of various shops around the proposed renovations in East Oakland's Foothill Square.

One of the most underserved "food deserts" in the Bay Area will soon have an oasis, courtesy of America's largest grocery chain.

The Kroger Co. is coming to East Oakland with a 72,000-square-foot Foods Co. supermarket, complete with fresh food, bakery, deli and pharmacy. Scheduled to open early next year, Foods Co., one of Kroger's lower-priced markets, is the centerpiece of a $45 million redevelopment of the Foothill Square shopping center off Interstate 580, one of the largest retail projects in Oakland in the past 40 years.

Other new tenants include chain retailers Ross Dress for Less, Anna's Linens and Rainbow Apparel; a Lifelong Medical Care center; one of the big five banks - name to be disclosed - and a number of restaurants.

Construction of the 202,000-square-foot project, preceded by the demolition of close to one-third of the existing space, could begin Friday, said John Jay, executive vice president of Jay-Phares Corp., the project's developer.

"This has been an incredibly underserved population," said Jay, referring to the 90,000 people living within a 2-mile radius of the Foothill Square center. "Virtually no food, no apparel, no general merchandise. There's been a major void in the marketplace."

The center, which opened in the early 1960s, once did a thriving business, with name tenants such as Roos/Atkins, SS Kresge, Zales jewelers, Bank of America, Thrifty Drugs, Lucky supermarket and what was the first indoor food court west of the Mississippi. Some, like Roos/Atkins, went out of business, while others moved out as the area's demographics changed. Lucky shut down its Foothill Square store in 2003.

"It's a sad commentary on some of the urban realities in America," said Jay, whose office is in the shopping center. His firm, which focuses on "rehabilitation of core urban properties," completed a similar makeover of the rundown Solano 80 Shopping Center in Vallejo last year. "We have our market niche. We're fighting the good fight," he said.

Moving in: Kroger, which recorded $90.4 billion in sales last year, has 3,500 stores in the United States, in a variety of formats, and two dozen brands, including Ralphs, Fry's and Foods4Less.

Its presence in the Bay Area is relatively small - there are three smaller-format Foods Co. stores in San Francisco - but it appears to be expanding. The company didn't respond to a request for comment Thursday, but I'm told two other stores, in West Oakland and near the Coliseum, are in the works.

A number of other Kroger-owned stores have popped up in Southern California and the Central Valley in the past couple of years, and the Cincinnati company is clearly looking for opportunities farther north.

"The fact that Kroger is now seriously in the Bay Area with Foods Co. is very significant," said Helen Bulwik, president of New Market Solutions, a retail management consultancy in Oakland.

"It's also very positive for East Oakland to have a company with the strength of Kroger. It's a community that's been desperate for fresh food and groceries for a long time."